On Easter Monday, April 13, 2009, the Province of Japan - Philippine was officially erected in Tomobe, Japan during a Eucharist celebrated by the Superior General. The first Provincial Chapter began that evening. On the agenda are the approval of the Plan of Apostolic Religious Life and the Provincial Statutes as well as the election of the first Provincial and his Council. Five brothers from the Philippines were refused entry visas to Japan. That problem became an opportunity to discover a new way of having a chapter! They are participating fully by live video conferencing and when there is a secret ballot, they vote by proxy. After a day and a half of the chapter, the experience of communion facilitated by technology is quite amazing.
04/14/2009